I run a half marathon tomorrow!!

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rnamy23
rnamy23 Posts: 17 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Tomorrow I am running the Missoula half marathon. This is only my second ever half marathon and I am nervous 😬Last year I ran the same marathon and trained closely with a friend at my same level. I only had one goal, and that was to finish before the winner of the full marathon crossed the finish line! lol!! I definetely wasn’t speedy, finishing at 2 hour 20 minutes, but i was proud of myself.

Fast forward to this year..... I had stopped running last year after my half, because the smoke from the forrrest fires was soooo bad. Then came winter..... blah. Needless to say, I didn’t stay strong in keeping with my running program. I got back on the wagon, so to speak and back to running in May, and decided to go for another half.

In some ways I feel more prepared and in other ways less prepared. Last week I had a bad stomach bug along with a cold, so I still feel like I’m on the mend for that. I just hope that my dedication these last two months shows and I am able to finish strong.

I have never been a good pacer for myself, and my friend helped keep me focused and my pace realistic last year. I’m afraid that without her running with me tomorrow, I will go out fast and crash. I feel like I am faster than last year, but not consistently..... in other words, I’m not sure what my pace is. My strategy tomorrow will be to just listen to my body..... if it is telling me to slow down, I will slow down.... if it is feeling strong and I notice that my pace is faster than normal, I’m just going to go with it!!!

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  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    Have fun!
  • Philtex
    Philtex Posts: 908 Member
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    Good luck tomorrow. I hope you have a great race.

    This won't help you tomorrow, but consider getting a Garmin watch. Distance running is much about pace, and personally I'd be lost without mine.
  • kathleenneriducharme
    kathleenneriducharme Posts: 46 Member
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    Enjoy it, and you're right, listen to your body. Then sign up for another one! You know you want to.
  • samthepanda
    samthepanda Posts: 569 Member
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    Good luck,
  • Mazda_Mx5
    Mazda_Mx5 Posts: 722 Member
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    Updates .
    How was it ?
  • peggym4640
    peggym4640 Posts: 156 Member
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    Hope it went well. Congratulations!!!
  • rnamy23
    rnamy23 Posts: 17 Member
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    craygslyst1 wrote: »
    How’d it go???? We’re dying here....

    My race went better than expected!! I was still feeling under the weather, but decided to just go out and do the best I could. The first 10 miles felt great. My splits were even and I was enjoying myself. At the start of mile 11, my legs were starting to feel tired and heavy. I could definitely tell I had only trained for 8 weeks compared to my 12 week training plan the year before! I gradually lost a little time in these final miles, but I didn’t stop! I ended up finishing in 2 hours and 21 minutes. That is exactly 18 seconds faster than last year! As I was training this year, and before I got sick with the crud, I really wanted to make it in 2 hours and 15 minutes, so I was a little disappointed. Anyway, I’m going right into more training for another half in September. I plan to add some speed work and to train up to 12 miles (I trained up to 10 last time) do see if I can shave some time!!

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